Music Review: Roger Waters: Is this the life we really want

Roger Waters is back in form with his new album <i>Is this the life we really want</i>

Is this the life we really want along with David Gilmour's solo albums is about as close as we are ever going to get to another release from Pink Floyd, other than repackaged or remixed tracks.

From the first sounds of this album it is unmistakably Roger Waters. His distinctive use of BBC-like voices has become a familiar aspect of his approach, and again it works well here.

I don't know if I am going out on limb here, but no matter, I reckon Is this the life we really want is the best we've heard from Mr Waters since his 1985 departure from Pink Floyd.

Sure there has been the (very) occasional reunions but Waters, like Gilmour, has been making his own way in the 30 years since the blow-up that effectively ended the career of one of rock's top table acts.

Waters is back on the road with this album as a centrepiece but the majority of the set-list is Pink Floyd based. Here we find Waters' moods varying between anger and angst, and he's not afraid of delivering his own views of how he sees our world, not surprisingly including references to a certain president of the US of A.

Add in the CIA, press freedoms, the refugee crisis, basically what we've come to expect from Waters' world-view. Alongside his political statements he also opens the door to more personal observations, demonstrating a vulnerability we don't always associate with him.

At 73 years old, and with regular income from Pink Floyd's 70-something million albums sold, Waters has no need to continue to record or tour.

On the basis of Is this the life we really want though we can only but be grateful that he still has the urge to do so.

It's a fine album from someone who still has something to say, and say it well.